Dishing the dirt

Courtesy photo
Kenny Benson, Nigel Juam Wellington, Kasey Allen Herbison and Eric Martinez, from left, are busy generating buzz for their band, Dirty Words. According to Benson, the Ventura group has attracted interest from the Atlantic and Sony record labels.

There are many dirty words that offend musicians. Words like, “We have to pay to play?” and “What do you mean my girlfriend’s cousin’s mechanic isn’t on the list?” Then there’s Dirty Words, those rockin’ kids from Ventura, who have been kicked out of more venues than even your drunken Uncle Ernie. It’s not that they’re rude, it’s just that they can be a little loud. And a little underage.

They have a May Day gig tonight at the Kenji Shack in Oxnard with several other bands, including the very talented I Was a Lover DeLorean Was a Dealer.

Three members of Dirty Words went to Ventura High School; the other went to Buena High. The guys in this under-21 outfit are Eric Martinez on four-string, Kasey Allen Herbison on vocals and rhythm guitar, Kenny Benson on lead guitar and Nigel Juam Wellington on drums. Together, they’re talented beyond their years. And they’ve got stories to tell; just listen to Benson.

@TO 1-Text Ragged Right no indent:What’s the latest with that cool band you’re in, Dirty Words?

We’ve just been booking a lot of gigs any way we can — house parties in the Ventura and Ojai areas — and trying to hit up Santa Barbara, as well.

House parties? Those are the ones where you play three songs and the cops come?

Did I tell you about that one?

No, but some things never change. When I was in high school, same thing. What happened?

We were at this kid’s birthday party at this killer house up in Ojai and right after the third song, the kid comes up and he’s like, “Stop! Stop! The cops are here!”

I think 19 or 20. The thing was, it was his girlfriend’s pad and she got fined, like, two grand.

Ouch. Happy stinkin’ birthday.

Yeah. Besides that (incident), we’ve been trying to get some recognition. We did some gigs with Army of Freshmen before they went to China. We played Record Store Day at Salzer’s and Jim Salzer introduced us — we got to kick it in the Green Room. That chick Miranda Cosgrove was there. She’s like Nickelodeon’s Hannah Montana. She was cool. Me and Nigel, our little drummer, made it our goal for the day to get a picture with her. Right before she left, we snapped a JPEG with her.

Did you guys make out with her?

No, but I wish Nigel had been able to. He isn’t 18 yet; he’s still 17. I think she’s, like, 16 and she’s killer looking.

Where’d you get the name Dirty Words?

It’s not so much like we say a lot of dirty words, but there’s a lot of different sayings and standpoints that people have and if you’re liberal people look down on you as that’s a dirty word. I don’t know. We’re being controversial sometimes.

How long has there been Dirty Words?

I think for almost two years now. Kasey and I were in the talent show in eighth grade at Cabrillo Middle School in Ventura. We made up original songs for that and it went well so we decided to kick if off from there. Since then, we’ve had major labels check us out — Atlantic and Sony — and they flew us out to New York. So we’re just booking a lot of shows and trying to build up our fan base around here. Before the band, all of us had picked up instruments and we all have this massive drive to make music with each other and get it to the biggest audience that we can.

How many Dirty Words songs are there? Originals or covers?

Oh, all originals. We have upwards of 25 or 30.

What was your first gig?

Our first gig was at the Ventura Theater. One of those Local Rock Nights. They made us sell tickets and we were only freshmen, so it was tough. We had to do a lot of legwork. We’ve played 21-and-over places before like the Viper Room in Los Angeles, but their policy is that once you play you can’t hang around.

So are there Dirty Words CDs?

We do make demos, but there’s nothing under the Dirty Words name that’s officially out there. We’re working on that.

How does a band from Ventura land showcase gigs with all these major labels?

Just grabbing their attention, I guess. It’s not only just the kids but the older people who appreciate what we’re saying. There’s a mutual respect that we have for the fans and that they have for us. Our songs are kind of political.

Do kids care about politics and affairs in the real world?

I think there’s a lot of apathy going on right now, but there’s a big crowd of kids who do really care about what’s going and where this country is going because we’re going to be running this place. Sometimes that scares me because I have hope, but I also know there’s a lot of people that don’t give a (damn).

Who goes to a Dirty Words show?

Some local bands only draw a certain crowd, like the shoegazer kids and all those cardigan-wearing kids, but we appeal to a lot of people. Our drummer is in a pretty gnarly Nardcore band called Dogends, and I have a lot of punk influences, so we draw that crowd. We also get the classic rock crowd — all the ZepHeads and all the Beatles fans. We have a lot of Beatles influences.

What’s the major trauma being underage in a rock band?

We’re still underage, but I think that really appeals to these major labels. There is a lot of professionalism in our show and in our music and we’re still kinda young, you know?